Why I do this – Part 2.

They used to be barefoot.

I love these kids more and more everyday. They are so precious and so thankful for a PAIR OF SHOES! Seriously… I take so much for granted.

Keep praying. Every prayer, every penny, every time you tell another person about this – it makes an impact!

I’m back… again…

and still working on Ellie’s Run for Africa stuff… which I am loving more and more everyday. Seriously. Please continue praying that God will bless our efforts this year. These kids are so special and I want the best for them… more on this later.

In working on some stuff for ERFA, I found this quote… which resonated with some things that we have been learning at church… and that I have found to be so true.

If you live only for yourself, you are always in immediate danger of being bored to death with the repetition of your own views and interests.

~W. Beran Wolfe

I love this. I have a tendency to get caught up in my own little world. What Rachel wants, needs, feels, hates, loves, etc. It’s hard to step back and look at the bigger picture… that there’s a world outside of my own. Full of people with needs. Full of people who experience more injustice in one day than will in my entire life. Full of people who don’t know love because no one has shown them what it is.

This year, in addition to being involved on an organizational level (for lack of better words), I have chosen to try to “sponsor” ten kids in Kibera… the slum in Africa where a majority of Ellie’s Run for Africa money is sent. I hate asking people for money… it’s makes me want to crawl in a hole and never come out. But, here I am… facing my fears and asking for your help. You can donate a dollar, five dollars, ten dollars… whatever you want… but please listen to me when I say that every little bit helps. ERFA funnels the funds raised through African Leadership – an organization based in Brentwood, Tenn. The leaders at African Leadership are awesome stewards of the Lord’s money – they pray over every penny and seek God’s wisdom as they decide where to send it. Your money is going DIRECTLY to someone in need. If you do not want to help financially, I ask that you pray. Pray for these kids – that they may come to know Jesus and be filled with his love.

If you would like to donate, you may do so by clicking here.

Thank you in advance for your help! Happy Monday!

Why Do I Do This?

Lately, I have been feeling a little bit bogged down with responsibilities. Lame, I know, but it’s true. Hence, me never blogging. Anyway… I have been up to my ears in Ellie’s Run stuff. It’s a lot of work, I’m not gonna lie. Lately, I have been making updates to the website and doing some research. In doing so, I have been completely humbled.

For the past couple of days, I have been researching different facts about Africa. These facts will also be available on the “Facts about Africa” page on elliesrun.org BUT I wanted to share them here as well. Take a look.

Facts About Africa

By The Numbers

• In Africa, $25 helps to put a kid in school by providing uniforms, books and shoes.
• In Africa, $7 can feed one person for a month; educate two children for one school term; save one person’s life from malaria; and provide clean water to seven Africans for a year. (1)
• Kibera, Kenya is a slum where over 800,000 people live in an area just over one square mile.
• Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 24% of the global disease burden and only 3% of the world’s health workforce. (2)
• Every forty seconds, a child in Sub-Saharan Africa dies from a mosquito bite. (3)
• 12.1 million African children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. (4)
• 22 million Sub-Saharan Africans are infected with HIV/AIDS – composing 2/3 of the worldwide total. (5)
• In 2006, 1/2 of the children – aged six months to three years in the Guidan Roumdji district of Maradi, Niger – suffered from acute malnutrition. (6)
• Up to 2.5 million innocent Darfur civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in internally displaced-persons camps in Sudan due to political unrest and violence. (7)

What’s Happening to Help?

Several organizations – like Ellie’s Run for Africa, The Mocha Club, African Leadership, Doctors Without Borders and others – realize that every little thing we can do makes an impact in places all over the world.

Fortunately, larger organizations also realize the need for action. In 2000, leaders from 189 nations signed on to the Millennium Development Goals – a set of eight ambitious targets designed to reduce global poverty and disease by 2015. (8)

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2. Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

Remember, you can take part in fighting these global issues. Become a hero.

Sources:
(1) https://www.mochaclub.org/mochaclub/welcome
(2) http://www.one.org/c/us/issue/187
(3) http://www.one.org/c/us/progressreport/778/
(4) http://www.one.org/c/us/issue/188
(5) http://www.one.org/c/us/issue/188
(6) http://doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/topten/article.cfm?=id2165
(7) https://www.mochaclub.org/mochaclub/choose_project/4
(8) http://www.one.org/c/us/issuebrief/762

So, why do I do this?

I think that it’s what we’re all called to do. I know that God has blessed me. I know that I am extremely privileged. I know that God calls us to be the hands and feet of Christ. It’s more than “volunteering.” It’s because WE can make a difference… not only in Africa, but in countries all over the world.

Check out www.elliesrun.org to see how you can make a difference in Africa.

Pete’s blog details some awesome ways to be involved with Compassion International… He just got back from India a few days ago and illustrates firsthand the needs of children and families there.

As harsh as this sounds, it’s time that we all quit resting on our butts. It doesn’t take much. It may just be giving up Starbucks once a week… or not buying that shirt just this one time. I encourage you to pray about what you can do. Ellie’s Run for Africa has this motto: DREAM BIG. TAKE ACTION. Ellie Ambrose was only 10 when she decided that she wanted to do something for kids halfway around the world. Five years later, the non-profit she founded has raised over $155,000, helped over 420 kids go to school, taught people about Jesus, helped fund health care initiatives in Africa, provided food to African kids and helped build classrooms and part of a vocational school. IF A 10-YEAR-OLD girl can do this, what can we do?

The good news: What we’re doing IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE, but we can still do more. More on this later…